Friday, October 14, 2011

Do You Trust Me?

If you do, then you need to make some of this:
Homemade Dulce de Leche!
Right now! And in a day or two I will tell you what to do with it. If you haven't eaten it all in a day or two. Because you might. I made mine yesterday and the jar is suspiciously low. There are just so many ways to enjoy it.

Ducle de Leche
2 (14 ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk

Pour milk into a double boiler. If you don't own one, balance a stainless steel mixing bowl on top of your smallest cooking pot 1/3-1/2 way with water. Set the stove at low heat and cook the milk for 3-6 hours, stirring occasionally.


While it fills your house with that delicious fall smell, you can go about your daily chores. Or go outside to mow the lawn and get distracted by your precious children playing in piles of gorgeous fall leaves.
When you come back inside you'll need to check the caramel. The best way is to use an implement so that you don't burn your fingers. You don't want to use a spoon because that would mean one more dish to wash. The disposable tool I had on hand was the one pictured above. The 72% goes perfectly with the caramel.
Oh Stars! It's getting there.
Once the milk is a deep caramel color it is ready for consumption. Let it cool and then refrigerate. It will become much thicker as it cools. The Dulce de Leche will stay good in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. But seriously, has anyone ever let it last that long?This is a double batch. You will only need half of it to make what I have planned in the next couple of days. So, go to town on tasting and testing. Let me give you some ideas in case your imagination can't get any farther than dipping your finger (or a spoon) into the jar. You could have it over ice cream for dessert, dip some more chocolate it in while reading your current literary treat, or cut up an amazing honey crisp apple for a bed time snack. If you manage to finish the jar before I get the next recipe posted...just make another : )
And yes, that is custom tile back splash behind my "retro" range. We didn't have to pay extra for it when we bought the house.

5 comments:

The Chatty Housewife said...

I have a lattice apple pie recipe that calls for this drizzled over the top, but you cook it till it's a little darker so it hardens more. It's the best!

Mike, Alice, and Hank the DOG said...

I just might have to give this a try.... But I don't have precious children to distract me while it cooks!!! Darling girls amongst the pretty leaves!!

whitsendmom said...

Are you going to post hourly photos of the jar, so that we can see your intake? :) Sounds like a must try recipe.

kdk said...

That sounds like a good gift item for neighbors (holidays loom), if I don't eat it all up first.

NaomiG said...

Yum! I have a recipe for dulce de leche that is a can of sweetened condensed milk cooked in boiling water for I can't remember how long. I like your way better I think, as the reason why I haven't tried it yet is because I'm pretty sure my can would somehow explode. Trying this, once I'm settled in a kitchen. Sounds perfect on apple slices!!